A solid album, to me, is what I have dubbed a "Front-to-Back." I have two definitions for Front-to-Backs: 1) albums that are structured to listen to as an entire piece of artwork (like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, or Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea); and 2) alb ... More >>
If you are lucky enough to be going to ACL this weekend, you have no doubt been sitting in front of your concert schedule plotting your movements for this coming weekend. Alternately if you are missing out on ACL, a lot of the bands playing have been through Houston lately, or will be in town this ... More >>
In the history of music, there have been many meetings of the mind between people with similar attitudes, styles, and ideas. Some of these just felt right from the very beginning and you knew they were destined to produce greatness. That's what happened when Brian Eno met David Bowie and later when ... More >>
I have been a teacher for six years now. I joke about it, but it really is the best job of all, and remains to be the only one I've ever had that didn't make me want to drive right the fuck into a tree after doing it for three weeks. Last week, teachers returned to campuses. We cleaned our rooms a ... More >>
What do younger people have against cruises? You can (sometimes) gamble, drink, eat all you want, and there is always tons of grim people watching to do. You don't have to drive anywhere, and if you want you can just hole yourself up in your cabin and not do a damned thing. Rocks Off has detailed ... More >>
Music festivals are now a part of our lives, just like deadlines, angry commenters, lack of sleep, and eye fatigue. And eating at our desk. That sucks. But at least we have food and a desk, right? Rocks Off ventured all over the state -- OK, really mostly Austin -- to cover festivals for the blog. ... More >>
The Muppets had a successful and profitable opening yesterday, proving that after 30 years of television and movies, Kermit still has his acting chops. Jim Henson's premiere Muppets motion picture, The Muppets Movie, came out in June of 1979. The film was the first to feature a leading cast of pup ... More >>
One tiny, lonely crab cake. I call him "Sebastian."​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we're still nursing bottle rocket burns and kebab skewer wounds from the 4th of July celebration on Monday. Did anyone else get really, really drunk and wind up donating half of y ... More >>
ITO EN, you're all that I wanted in a tea.The next time someone calls you a picky eater, direct them to Weezer's backstage rider for their 2010 tour. Weezer demands that both regular and Canadian bacon be available for breakfast, that there be almond butter but no peanut butter, that there m ... More >>
Sorry, Manowar, maybe next year...As we come up on the July 4th weekend, Rocks Off considered a myriad of blog ideas to commemorate the holiday. Most patriotic songs, album covers, artists? Sorry, Lee Greenwood, Richard Pryor, and Ted Nugent, but it's all been covered. On this weekend of inde ... More >>
Ed. Note: Much more on Summer Fest to come throughout the day. Jim BrickerWeezer Free Press Summer Fest Eleanor Tinsley Park June 5, 2011 For almost two hours on Sunday night, Weezer led a sea of thousands through some of the saddest and happiest times of their lives an their 18-song set of ... More >>
Jim BrickerGood ole boy done good: Hayes Carll had a productive homecoming.Chris Gray: Not long after I got to Summer Fest Sunday, I spotted festival honcho Omar Afra finishing up one of local musician/yogi Tyagaraja's yoga workshops in the wooden glade known temporarily as the Budweiser Beer ... More >>
Jermaine RogersIn three very short years, Free Press Summer Fest has gone from an experiment most people thought would fail to destination music festival most people wouldn't dare miss even if it is going to be 105 degrees outside. Rocks Off has seen quite a bit of online chatter from people ... More >>
This Sunday night, Weezer headlines Free Press Summer Fest III, and the influential pop-rockers have been a part of indie lore for the past 17 years. With 1994's self-titled "Blue Album" and 1996's Pinkerton, the band created a cult following whom they would promptly weird the fuck out with s ... More >>
Jermaine RogersFree Press Summer Fest has added four headliners to the two-day festival scheduled for June 4 and 5 in Eleanor Tinsley Park, organizers Free Press Houston and pegstar.net announced this morning. Atlanta rapper Big Boi (still one-half of OutKast, we think), Balkan-tinged indie- ... More >>
This hlist is kind of funny now, seeing that the dearly departed White Stripes are smack-dab in the middle with White Blood Cells. We swear this final hlist was made Tuesday afternoon, before Wednesday's breakup announcement. Funny how the band has actually been on the tips of our lips for a ... More >>
Editor's Pick: Shit. I spent my whole year either avoiding or ignoring trends. No reason to change now. Marc Brubaker: Many a person instructed me to place Ke(Dollar Sign)ha in this spot, but she's become so ubiquitous that I can't help but laugh when I hear her now. No, fine sirs, this awa ... More >>
Thanks to holiday-themed compilations like A Very Special Christmas and Little Steven's Christmas A Go-Go, we often hear our favorite modern artists putting their spin on holiday classics. But for those who are tired of forcing Mariah Carey's eight-octave "All I Want For Christmas" on their f ... More >>
Congratulations to Houston folksinger Glenna Bell. Her "The Cougar Anthem," from this year's Perfectly Legal: Songs of Sex, Love and Murder, was singled out Tuesday alongside Aaron Neville, Keith Richards, Norah Jones and Paul McCartney & Wings in USA Today's weekly "The Playlist" feature. I ... More >>
Why do people support so much bad music? What if people paid awful bands to quit instead? Weezer fans are willing to try. Sick and tired of being let down by his favorite band, last week a fan jokingly offered Weezer $10 million to split up. Naturally, this had Rocks Off thinking of other ac ... More >>
It's not every day one gets music recommendations from The Fonz. During our Art Attack interview last week with Henry Winkler, the actor spoke about how music from the 1950s was a big draw for Happy Days. Winkler, who is super-friendly on the phone, later asked Rocks Off about our plans fo ... More >>
Photo illustrations by John Seaborn GrayKaty Perry Finds Musicianship Depressing: Katy Perry, primarily known for her amazingly sexy body and, oh, probably some other stuff too, was interviewed recently about her time with an independent record label early in her career. "That was the most d ... More >>
Weezer to Team Up with Ryan Adams: Set Expectations Bar to "Low": Remember when Bryan Adams teamed up with Rod Stewart and Sting on that song "All For Love" on the Three Musketeers soundtrack? We bring it up not to once again give Ryan Adams shit about his name, but to point out that all thre ... More >>
​This Monday night, MGMT hits the House Of Blues behind new album Congratulations, which has been getting one of the most tepid responses for a new album by a buzz band in recent media memory. The people that jumped on the bandwagon in 2008 after the Brooklyn-based then-duo released Oracular Spect ... More >>
​Last week, we told you of some upcoming summer-movie soundtracks that look like they're going to be fantastic. If positivity is your thing, go read that article. This one is going to be all about the upcoming soundtracks that make us wince so hard it feels like someone's chopping our balls with a ... More >>
Hi there, 2009. Please have a seat. Are you comfortable? Would you like some coffee, or perhaps a cigarette? No? Okay, good. Let's just cut straight to the point, then. You suck, and frankly we're sick of your bullshit. You were an awful year, filled not just with economic collapse, scary right-wi ... More >>
​Florida-based indie kids Surfer Blood pull into Mango's tonight, touring ahead of their upcoming Astro Coast LP. The band was recently anointed by Rolling Stone's online feature "Hype Monitor" as "bright and booming and hooky as FM radio in the late '70s." Rocks Off can hear traces of early "Blue ... More >>
Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "Still Here," Lil' Keke Wire To Wire Again, congratulations to Trae and the newest tiny Trae. Hey, Rush ... More >>
5. Killer Mike feat. Ice Cube, "Pressure" 4. Weezer, "Pork and Beans" 3. Justice, "Stress" (above) 2. Hayes Carll, "She Left Me for Jesus" And the best video of 2008 is...
Grammy-nominated music producer fronts sinister Dallas rock quartet
The world has turned and left them here, and it'll take more than a great video to redeem them
Ozma performs Tuesday, June 5, at Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, 713-225-5483. Eastern Conference Champions and The Actual also perform.
Stuff you need to know to avoid musical ostracism
People Under the Stairs fix the leak
How I became my own personal Jesus
As video games go indie, Wack imagines a few likely pairings
Profiling local bands
A music-video renaissance is afoot -- but it's strictly on the download
Ten albums that'll snap and fizz in your ear buds all winter long
Weezer's sullen front man trades good songwriting for meditation. Such a pity, indeed.
Jermaine Rogers
Maladroit (Geffen)
Green Manilow (Self-released)
Find everything you're looking for in your city
Find the best happy hour deals in your city
Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%
Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city
